Toy balloon



March 2, 1943. s. scum 2,312,369

TOY BALLOON Filed July 21, 1941 OZeck Z;

INVENTOR.

Patented Mar. 2, 1943 UNITED STATES RATEN OFFICE 3 Claims.

My invention relates to toy balloons, and more particularly to accessories for the same to make their use more versatile or fascinating, and my main object is to provide an appliance by means of which the balloon may be picked up and suspended from a string.

A further object of the invention is to design the novel appliance in the form of a holder to retain the balloon in it suspended'state.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the appliance that it becomes tensioned when it engages the balloon, whereby to exert or retain a grip on the same.

A further object of the invention is to design the novel appliance in a manner to be adjustable for engaging balloons of different sizes within ordinary limits.

An additional object of the invention is to construct the novel appliance along lines of simplicity, in order that it may be cheaply produced and used with facility by any child.

With the above objects in view, and any others which may suggest themselves from the description to follow, a better understanding of the invention may be had by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one form of the appliance;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of another form;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation, showing the appliance of Fig. 1 mounted on a toy balloon; and

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the showing in Fig. 3.

Toy balloons are primarily interesting because of their colorings, ornamentation and adaptation to various shapes. However, the conventional toy balloon, which is of spherical shape, is only of limited additional interest in the sense that it can be thrown or bounced from place to place, or swung from the end of a string. When a child has indulged in these uses of the balloon for a time, he will tire of the pastime and most likely throw the balloon aside or puncture it to hear it explode. It has been my intention to extend the toy balloon pastime, and I have therefore provided an accessory which creates additional tasks, hazards and recreation in connection with the use of the toy balloon, making the pastime more enjoyable and keeping a child or children occupied with it considerably longer than at present.

In accordance with the foregoing, specific reference to the drawing indicates the upper portion of the appliance at H), such portion being in the arch is a medium gauge of spring wire; and the ends of the arch are extended laterally with substantially semi-circular sections ll, these being started from opposite sides of the arch, so as to form a circle. However, the circle is incomplete, since the free ends [2 of the extensions l I stop spacedly from the arch.

The arch H] is gathered close at the top to form a loop I3 in the upper portion of which one end of a, string 14 may be tied, as indicated at [5. A sheet metal clip I6 is secured with its ends I! wrapped around the loop l3 below the string tie l5, whereby to prevent the latter from sliding down the arch. Also, the clip serves as a nameplate or may be marked in any suitable manner for identification or advertising purposes.

The appliance just described may be made in one or more sizes to suit a given range or assort-' ment of toy balloons. However, where toy balloons are not ready-made, the balloon must be inflated by the child or its attendant to a size suitable for a given appliance or holder. Thus, Figs. 3 and 4 show such a balloon, the appliance being mounted over the \ipper portion thereof.

In the application of the device to the inflated balloon, the size or girth of the circular portion or ring II, is of principal importance. It is my intention that the appliance engage the sides of the balloon when lowered upon the same directly; and the size of the ring ll must be such that it will be slightly expanded and placed under tension as it settles on the circumference of the balloon. At the same time, the size of the ring need not be critical in this respect, as the balloon yields somewhat from the frictional engagement of the ring I I with its sides, so that a fairly good grip is secured by the appliance on the balloon by virtue of the compressing tendency of the ring I 1 plus the expansive influence of the balloon.

The balloon-engaging action just described is of course due to the spring-like nature of the sections of the ring H, as well as to the yieldability of the arch sections. As the appliance drops upon the balloon, its force is sufiicient to induce the adjustments which cooperate to secure a grip on the balloon, so that when the string is again pulled up, the appliance serves as a holder for the balloon and may be used for bouncing, swinging the balloon to and fro or in a circle, or for any other balloon play.

It is inevitable that a toy balloon will lose a slight amount of air over night or during a given period of time, so that the balloon may be slightly smaller when used again. However, this ciriorm of an arch or bail. The material of the cumstance does not render the appliance useless,

as it may be manually constricted by a small amount of pressure to make the ring ll smaller, since its ends have ample space for closing adjustment. Thus, the ring may be readily adapted to the new size of the balloon, and without the need of skill or tools of any kind.

The modification of Fig. 2 mainly differs from the original form in the fact that the ring 11 is extended only from one end of the arch I 8, and is therefore in a single section. This form of the device is not as flexible as the other form in a horizontal or expanding sense, although the arch I8 becomes more flexible by having one end.

free, as indicated at l9.

Considered in either of 1 its forms the novel appliance is an accessory which creates new uses for the balloon. In other words, wherethe balloon formerly was either free as a ball orrpermanently tied to the string, the appliance enables the balloon to assume either form at will. Further, the properdirection or force in dropping the appliance over the balloon becomes a matter of practice or skill, so that a child may be occupied for a considerable time or number of times in learning how to throw the appliance over a stationary or rolling balloon. Moreover, the occupation may be employed asa contest between children to pick up one or more balloons, amounting to an enjoyable and exciting pastime. Also, a practice or contest may be tried tosee what motions or force are required to throw a balloonirom its holder or cup-like seat in the appliance as the same isswung from the string. Thus, an accessory is had which adds variety,

interest, occupation and entertainment to the.

I claim:

1. A holder for toy balloons comprising a receptacle adapted to be lowered on a balloon of somewhat greater girth than the receptacle entrance, and means carried by the receptacle to engage the sides of the balloon and slightly compress the same, whereby to secure a retainin grip on the balloon, the receptacle being a wire arch, and said means being a pair of oppositelydirected extensions of the ends of the arch, such extensions being in substantially semi-circular juxtaposition to form a diametrically-split ring.

' 2. A holder for toy balloons comprising a receptable adapted to be lowered on a balloonof somewhat greater girth than the receptacle entrance, andmeans carried by the receptacle to engage the sides of the balloon and slightly com- ;press the same, whereby to secure a retaining grip on the balloon, the receptacle being a wire arch, an upward minor arch extended from the top of the main arch for a string attachment around the top of the minor arch to suspend the main arch from the string, and a plate spanning the lower portions of the minor arch legs and serving as -a guard to check the attachment from sliding down said legs.

3. A holder for toy balloons comprising a receptacle adapted to be lowered on a balloon of somewhat greater girth than the receptacle entrance, and means carried by the receptacle to engage the sides of the balloon and slightly c0m press the same, whereby to secure a retainin grip on the balloon, the receptacle being a Wire arch, an upward minor arch extended from the top of the main arch for, a string attachment around the top of the offset to suspend the arch from the string, and a plate spanning the lower portions of the sides of the offset, the plate ends wrapping around such legs, and the plate serving as a guard to check the attachment from sliding down said legs.

STANLEY SOLECKI. 

